It was a long, hard and enduring battle, but Leopard Racing rider, Joan Mir won the opening round of the 2017 Moto3 season at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. He was joined on the podium by Scottish rider, John McPhee (British Talent Team), and pole position man, Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3).
Grid positions determined by combined Free Practice times
The front row of the grid was made up of Martin on pole, Phillip Oettl (Sudmetall Schedl GP Racing) and Romano Fenati (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers). Mir began the race in sixth on the grid, and McPhee started from down in 12th; as Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA ROE Racing Team) crashed out during Free Practice and broke his collarbone excluded him from the remainder of the weekend.
That means nothing in the 250cc class as they are so evenly matched, they form as a group and power down the long start-finish straight in a chain, the ones behind benefiting from the ‘hole in the air’ created by those in front, which leaves them with power available to speed to the front.
Martin led into the first corner
Martin used his pole position to his advantage and led into the first corner, he crossed the line in the front but Mir had already progressed up to second. Mir took the lead on the third lap heading into turn one however this did not stick as like usual in the Moto3 class, it changes on most laps.
Mir and Martin switched leads for several laps with a large group following, until on lap seven, McPhee used a three bike slipstream to thunder through to the front. McPhee’s domination did not last long as other riders came into contention including Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46), Juanfran Guevara (RBA ROE Racing Team), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3), Fenati and Oettl all took their turns to lead the race.
Small group briefly broke away at the front
Briefly at one point, around lap 15, a small group of four managed to break away, but they switched places so many times, they were once again caught by those behind them. The battle continued up to the end of the race. Mir led as they began the penultimate lap, but when they began the final lap of the race McPhee was the man to beat. Mir overtook McPhee on a right-hand corner, and McPhee was left having to fend off Martin. Mir won the season opener under the floodlights, McPhee was second and Martin finished the race in third.
Mir has the best race of his life
Discussing his success, the 19 year old declared the first race of the 2017 Moto3 season as, “The best race of my life!” He explained how he “always kept everything under control” throughout the race. He found that the bike was “perfect both in a straight line in the fast corners, despite the lack of grip on the track”.
He spoke of how he felt “comfortable on the Honda” which was a result of them having “worked so hard all winter”. He explained how he “tried to run away” but that “in the category and at this circuit it is very difficult”. Afterwards Mir said, “All in all it was a tough race”, however he felt it was “fun despite the many overtaking”. The Spaniard said, “I want to continue like this in all the other races.”
Fantastic result for McPhee and his new team
It was an extra fantastic achievement for McPhee and his new team sponsored by Dorna, the British Talent Team. The team is a result of MotoGP bosses wanted to develop the young talent in the British Isles. Like they have done successfully with the Asia Talent Cup, they have created the British Talent Cup, a championship that young British riders will be given the opportunity to ride in, with the aspiration of being promoted to the Moto3 class and maybe further should other teams wish to take them on.
McPhee, on the factory Honda, finished just 0.135 seconds behind race winner Mir. It is proof that Dorna have helped to provide him with a fantastic opportunity that has allowed him to unleash and demonstrate his potential already. He collected 20 championship points when he finished second in Qatar.
McPhee embraces new opportunity
After his success in the race, McPhee declared he, “Can’t thank everyone enough, honestly!” when referring to “the team and everyone behind”. He spoke of how he has “been given this opportunity” and that he is “trying to make the most of it” and so felt that second in Qatar was “the best way to start off the season”.
He found the bike to be “so fast” which meant he “felt really strong in the group”. He mentioned how they “ticked all the boxes in preseason testing” and as a result knew that they “could be strong even if the weekend’s not been the best, position-wise”. He said, “I stuck to the plan and now it’s paid off so I’m absolutely delighted.”
Martin third at the season opener in Qatar
What seemed a very happy and relaxed Martin all weekend seemed content with his third position in Qatar. His confident shone throughout and he remained in contention throughout the race.
Martin explained how he found he was “really quick in the early part of the race” and he was left feeling that he “had something more” than his opponents. He spoke of how he “tried to pull away with Joan, but that wasn’t possible.” He found that “in the second part of the race things started to become less predictable” and this is when he “started to lose some grip and dropped down to sixth or seventh place”. However, he found he was then able to “bridge the gap to the lead again”.
He explained how he, “pushed as hard as [he] could” in an attempt to “stay in touch with Joan” however he noticed “McPhee made a couple of mistakes” which mean that it allowed Mir to “pull away that bit”. Still, he was “happy” that they “leave Qatar with a pole position, a lot of points and a podium.”